A Nigerian Apple farmer in Jos, Plateau State has called on the federal government to place ban on foreign fruits including Apple, guava, blackberry and grapes.
In an interview in Jos, the small scale farmer who pleaded anonymity said “The Nigerian fruit market cannot grow when the borders both land and air are open for fruit imports”.
“We have been growing Apple in Jos for years because the climate is mildly temperate which supports Apple but we do not have the support coming from the government.
He said “All we hear is that the federal government is supporting agro driven diversification and farming, but nobody is talking to us who are fruit farmers.
“Even the root tuber farmers they are talking to are not really getting the best. My relations are yam farmers in Benue, that is Gboko, parts of Otukpo, Wukari and Zakibiam, they are yet to get any reasonable incentive from the government.
He accused the government of giving aids and assistance to farmers that are closely related to those in government, saying “many of the yam farmers are only hearing about government incentives in radio and TV and nothing is happening in their farms. Some of them are being killed by Fulani herdsmen and nothing is happening”.
Continuing, the aggrieved fruit farmer said over 85 per cent of Nigerian farmers are still using old and outdated farming implements and nothing to show government’s serious efforts in upgrading the sector to mechanization.
Still on fruits farming, the Zimbabwean government on Wednesday, banned fruit and vegetable imports to preserve its dwindling reserves of hard currency.
Even though the order alarmed retailers and street dealers in the capital Harare who get much of their produce from neighbouring South Africa, government said the aim is to grow local economy.
The government had in June this year, banned maize imports.
The shutdown, which Agriculture Minister Joseph Made said was immediate, underlined the scale of the economic crisis in what was once one of southern Africa’s agricultural heartlands.
The Minister averred that President Robert Mugabe had made the order himself to stop the imports because “they waste much needed foreign currency”.
“This means that the importation of fruit and vegetables will be stopped immediately. We are finalising on the exact list of foreign-produced fruits that are occupying shelves in shops,” Made said.
The order would let local farmers increase output, he added, revealing that statistics from national statistics agency, Zimstat showed that in 2016, last year Zimbabwe spent more than $80 million on fruit and vegetables imports.
